Tim’s Daily Bread Devotional 1.17.21

By January 17, 2021Daily Bread

Good morning! I hope this day finds you and your family well, and I want you to know that you are in my prayers daily during this difficult time.

I invite you to take a few moments with me to reflect on today’s Upper Room Devotional below — as well as on the theology woven into “It is well with my soul.”

Today’s Scripture:

Lamentations 3:19-26 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,[a]
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

Tim’s Devotional Reflection for Today

Lamentations is an aptly-named book in the Hebrew Scriptures.  The very first words of the book are “Oh, no!  She sits alone, the city that was once full of people.  Once great among nations, she has become like a widow.  Once a queen over provinces, she has become a slave.”  In the third chapter, the lamentation becomes individual.  The last verse before our reading for today is “I thought: My future is gone, as well as my hope from the Lord.”  It is bleak.

But, the writer doesn’t stop there.  He comes round to these words that speak powerfully to us when we are in a time of lamentation:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

Thank you for sharing this early moment of your day with me, with God, and with the words and music that I hope you will carry with you throughout the coming day and night.

I am so grateful for you, for our church, and for the Love that will see us all through this very difficult time. Please stay safe and well and we’ll be together again in spirit tomorrow morning!

Grace and Peace,


Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor

Here’s more about this passage of scripture via Upper Room devotionals:

HOPE IN SUFFERING

I will share my story of God’s faithfulness with someone today.

read more